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The one in the picture was mine. I swapped it a while ago with a mate up tut north for a ten tonne twin axle with hi-Ab and air brakes. As I found it too small for what I needed but the roads round the lakes and access is far tighter up their. So it suited him more. I think he sold it on again as I saw it advertised again in Scotland I think. They are really good little trailers, And are built like a tank as I’ve dropped some good sized logs on the mud guards and they bounce off! The bolsters are removable and you can put a flat bed on it so you can take your alpine tractor to site, unload and drop the bolsters in to start extracting. I didn’t use it to extract, I just ran it behind my defender and picked up the timber off jobs that was accessible. They tow really nicely as you have a sliding chassis to adjust the nose weight. The only bad point I found was the crane wasn’t man enough and controls were jerky, as you had to have it set on full throttle to lift a sizeable log, and the levers lacked sensitivity.

So do you have any idea if this is really your trailer being sold on again, or just a scam listing? If the seller were accepting paypal payments I could make an offer and pay by paypal, but as the seller specifies they will not accept paypal I would not risk doing a bank transfer.

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Hi squaredy, looks a bit Micky mouse to me mate. As all the pictures on the listing were originally taken by myself. So if the prospective seller was selling the genuine article they would of used said article and taken their own piccies. I swapped it for £6000+vat and I know Greg wanted at least £6000 when he sold it on so the buy it now price is around the right mark but it doesn’t sit right with me either. Call the guy and ask to meet to exchange goods for cash If he blanks you it’s bollocks

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Riko will be exhibiting our latest RUFT3500, Fast Tow trailer at the ARB show at Westonbirt on the 11th & 12th May. The trailer has agross weight of 3500Kg and has full UK IVA approval. It is fitted with a 4.7 meter reach crane with rotator and timber grab. All powered by a built in Honda powered hydraulic power pack. The RUFT3500 has a unique hydraulic moving bed / chassis that allows you to move the load / axles to ensure you have the correct axle and nose weights for towing. Hope to see you at the Arb show.

I assume your going to be at the APF this year?

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Hi squaredy, looks a bit Micky mouse to me mate. As all the pictures on the listing were originally taken by myself. So if the prospective seller was selling the genuine article they would of used said article and taken their own piccies. I swapped it for £6000+vat and I know Greg wanted at least £6000 when he sold it on so the buy it now price is around the right mark but it doesn’t sit right with me either. Call the guy and ask to meet to exchange goods for cash If he blanks you it’s bollocks

Thanks for your opinion Geoffers, you are probably right. As it is such a distance for me I will leave it to someone nearer to find out if this is real or not I think.

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I think the Bank holiday sun must have frazzled my brain as I posted a reply on my profile rather than the thread! Here it is in its full glory:

Good morning all, a beautiful sunny bank holiday down here on the Surrey Hampshire boarders. I would rather be out in the sunshine with a nice cold beer but instead I bam in the office trying to get organised for the ARB show! And due to the response from my post I thought I had better crunch some numbers and post a reply to hopefully cover all the posts.

My original design of the Riko fast Tow trailer was pre-2009 and over the years it has evolved somewhat. The original concept was for a 3500Kg gross weight road going trailer that could carry a small tractor to site. Unload the tractor, remove the 4-piece floor sections, drop in the bolsters and trundle off along the woodland / forest tracks to extract timber.

The basic principle is the same now as then, the bed and crane all hydraulically slide back and forth so you can keep the axles and nose weight correct for safe and easy towing. It used ‘over-run’ drum braked stub axles on a traditional style timber trailer axle, this allowed the hitch height on the towing vehicle to vary without changing the load on the axles or the hitch. We sold a couple each year but to be honest it was pain in the arse as the design meant it was a very complicated and drawn out build and low demand prevented any volume production with related savings on build cost.

It soon became apparent that the main demand was for road use in the ARB and Council sector with pretty much all road use. I therefore changed the design so a more traditional flatbed version with twin beam axles on a central rocking ‘shoe’. This axle design maintains all the benefits of the first design but reduces the overall bed height. It is still quite a complicated and drawn out build and low demand still prevents any volume production with related savings on build cost.

Labour costs etc have rocketed over the past 8-9 years, as has the amount of legislation such as IVA! End result is the retail price has continued to climb at an alarming rate. This build is a ‘full specification’ and has our latest crane so I won’t know the true load capacity until the Arb show but it should be around 2000Kg. This full spec build tops out at £16,900 + vat. We can build smaller versions which increases the load capacity slightly and drops the price very slightly. We can also build a 10ft long X 5ft / 6ft wide version without the hydraulic sliding chassis. This reduces the price more but this means you cannot control the weight distribution of the load in relation to the axles and hitch. You therefore put yourself at the mercy of the old bill and VOSA. But more importantly, if you are unfortunate enough to have an accident, you run the risk of prosecution for incorrect / overweight axle / hitch loads. Or worse still your insurance company using that as a reason to not pay out.

NB.Yes we will be at the 2018 APF show, as we have been for God knows how many years. Demo route, stand 40-80, same location as previous years at Ragley.

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